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President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Agricultural Adjustment Act into law on 12th May, 1933. A cornerstone of his New Deal policies to support the country during the Great Depression, this legislation allowed the federal government to pay farmers not to grow food on a portion of their land – by paying farmers not to produce, crop supplies decreased, and, in turn, prices increased so that farmers could once again earn a proper living from their produce. -
The Act also included a provision to purchase surplus crops from farmers and distribute them to under-served communities. While aspects were flawed in execution, the impact of this act was significant, with farm incomes rising by 50% in 1935, in comparison to 1933. The 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act was only meant to be temporary but, based on its success, the policy was permanently adopted in 1938 with a proviso that Congress reauthorize it every five years. -
The law specified the total amount of money to be made available through contract payments under production flexibility contracts for each fiscal year from 1996 through 2002. Payment levels were allocated among contract commodities according to specified percentages, generally derived from each commodity’s share of projected deficiency payments for fiscal 1996-2002. -
"Freedom to Farm Act"
The enacted 1996 farm bill authorizes a sugar program through 2002, repeals standby restrictions on the marketing of domestically produced sugar, freezes price support loan rates at 1995 levels (18 cents per pound for raw sugar, 22.9 cents/lb. for refined beet sugar), and increases by 25% the budget deficit reduction (marketing) assessment rate paid by processors. The program's "no-cost"
requirement was repealed, perhaps inadvertently in the drafting of the bill. -
Improvements to domestic food nutrition and assistance for low-income families is greatly supported by the bill. This area provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Emergency Food Assistance Program, as well as the free fresh fruit and vegetable snack program which is meant to help schools with students in need. Also, the act provides help for organizations such as food banks and soup kitchens. -
The bill creates new programs, including a Biomass Crop Assistance to provide financial assistance to producers for growing biomass crops and developing conversion facilities, the Agricultural Bioenergy Feedstock and Energy Efficiency Research and Extension Initiative to provide for competitive grants to fund projects with a focus on supporting on farm biomass crop research and extension. This latter initiative is under the bill's research title and includes other bioenergy research programs. -
Authorized the production of hemp and removed hemp and hemp seeds from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) schedule of Controlled Substances. It also directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue regulations and guidance to implement a program to create a consistent regulatory framework around production of hemp throughout the United States. The establishment of hemp as a regulated commodity also paves the way for U.S. hemp farmers to participate in other USDA farm programs. -
Increases 2019-2023 spending by $1.8 billion above the level projected for a continuation of the previous farm act. The CBO projects that 76% of outlays under the 2018 Farm Act will fund nutrition programs, 9% will fund crop insurance programs, 7% will fund conservation programs, 7 percent will fund commodity programs, and the remaining 1 percent will fund all other programs, including trade, credit, rural development, research and extension, forestry, horticulture, and miscellaneous programs.